


Hilda and the Marra Migration

by ThatRollingStone



Series: Everest [1]
Category: Hilda (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Magic, Blood and Injury, Magic, Mind Mischief, Multiverse, Mystery, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Though I will add in whatever happens in season 2 and on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:42:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27974639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatRollingStone/pseuds/ThatRollingStone
Summary: Hilda has been adventurous, inquisitive, and often reckless, but in the end she always ends up alright. Her friends and mum keep her in check most of the time. But when mysterious forces begin to create discordance in the delicate order of Trolberg, she finds herself in over her head.
Series: Everest [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2048897
Kudos: 13





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Your Own Massive Nightmare](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/723764) by birby6. 



It was a bright and blue Saturday, with the woffs floating freely in the air. Hilda had the idea of going to the park for a day. Johanna decided it was a great idea, so she and her husband drove to Trolberg Central Park and spent the day relaxing in the sun, they even had a small picnic. Johanna smiled as Hilda played catch with her father, the sun beginning to set and their day coming to a beautiful end. Johanna watched in silent bliss from a nearby bench. It was such a wonderful sight for her, a wish that even her wildest dreams couldn't achieve. They'd toss the ball to each other, simply enjoying their presence. It felt odd how doing something so simple as tossing a ball back and forth could be so satisfying. After a while, Hilda missed a catch and the ball rolled to Johanna's feet. She leaned over and picked it up, "Don't worry, I've got it." as she looked up, she saw only Hilda standing in the grass.

She was sobbing loudly.

"Hilda? What happened? Where is your father?" She asked, concerned.

Hilda's cries stopped for a moment before she turned her head to face Johanna. There was blood all over her pale white face, it was almost as if she was seeing a living corpse. Hilda glowered at her, tears still flowing freely, "That's what I'd like to know, you bitch!" Johanna lost her footing at the angry expression on her daughter's face. She had seen her angry, but not this angry. "What did you do to him?!" She shouted.

"I..."

"You killed him, didn't you! You killed him!" Hilda screamed at her as her body grew taller and her eyes became covered in a green tint.

"N-no! I just..."

"Don't deny it! You killed him!" She repeated, her body growing even taller than that of a giant. Her once tiny hand clenched into a massive fist. "And now..." she brought the fist over her head and smiled. "I'm gonna kill you!" She began to laugh wildly and reared her hand back in maniacal glee.

"No! Hilda, please! I didn't... I didn't..." as the fist drew closer and closer to her, she pleaded to her hoping that she would understand. She closed her eyes and crouched into the fetal position, waiting for her impending doom at the hands of her daughter.

But the pain never came. As she opened her eyes, instead, she saw a shadow of a man. A silhouette as a blinding light enveloped her vision. A weak voice whispered into her ear, a man's voice.

"Awaken."

* * *

And the world became clear once again. She was gasping for air, was drenched in a cold sweat, and her bed had been torn up. Just as she caught her breath, she turned to the side. She heard footsteps coming toward her door and prepared herself for whatever was coming. The door opened with a faint squeak. "Mum, is everything alright?"

She stared at her child for a few seconds, before shaking off the uneasy feeling. "Uh, sorry, I'm alright. Everything's alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Hilda, I'm alright, there's no need to worry," she said assuredly. "You should go back to bed."

Hilda looked at her mother for a few seconds, before hesitantly heading back to bed. As Hilda laid in her bed, she looked to Alfur who was mildly concerned. "Is she alright?" He asked.

"I don't know, she said she was fine, but her bed looked like it was hit by a tornado. But she just told me to go back to bed."

"No one who screams that loud when they sleep can be alright." Alfur pointed out. "It might have been another one of those marra things."

"Maybe, but I've never seen a marra so bold that they would come for an adult. It's always been the children."

"Hm," Alfur hummed before yawning loudly, "Maybe we should probably deal with this in the morning."

Hilda was silent for a moment. "Can you stay with her tonight? Just make sure she's fine for tonight?" Hilda asked.

Alfur sighed and smiled. "Sure, just take me there."

"Thanks, Alfur."


	2. The Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johanna introduces two new employees to her job, and David has a nightmare.

Johanna felt herself ease into her seat as she took a sip of the perfectly made hot coffee. Even with her typical morning coffee, she couldn't help but feel tired. Which is why she went to get this mug of coffee before she clocked in. She had a long and uneasy night, what with strange dreams and even stranger people. The next morning she felt horrid, almost sick to her stomach. During that night, Hilda and Alfur had to check on her to see if she was alright. She felt embarrassed, to say the least. But their worry wasn't unwelcome and she tried her best to ease their fears.

Getting up the next morning, was a job in and of itself. Her sleep deprivation left her weak-kneed and hollow as if there were a void where her bones should be. She managed to make a simple breakfast for herself and Hilda - who shared bits of it with Alfur. It was eggs and waffles, she didn't have the energy for pancakes. She tried her best to rush to work, as she was already late. But she felt an absence of her typical wariness of timekeeping. She found herself waking up on the drive, gaining a second wind in her sails, and getting to her job on time. She had to continue this retail job to pay the apartment rent, and for supplies for her design. Johanna took another sip of her coffee. Enjoying the bitter taste and the rush of caffeine it gave her. While she was doing this, another worker opened the door tentatively. Johanna looked up, seeing it was one of the assistant managers. "What is it?"

They had everyone gathered in the back room for a meeting before they opened at nine o'clock. Johanna rushed through the doors, apparently being the last one coming in. Everyone glanced at her as she walked in. The manager gave her a slightly dissatisfied look. He had already started talking and her opening the door so loudly had disturbed his train of thought. "Sorry," she uttered. _What a way to start the day_ , she thought.

He simply sighed, before beginning the meeting, disregarding her tardiness. She noticed the two new faces that stood next to the manager. One was a girl, who appeared to be no older than sixteen. She had long mid-back length red hair and warm brown eyes. She held her hands together at her front, shuffling slightly in nervousness. "Before we discuss the schedule and who's going where, Today I'd like to introduce you to these two new employees."

"Ashley... and Everest," he indicated with a hand gesture to each of them in turn. Everest was the first to come out and speak.

"Hello everyone. My name is Everest Sagarmatha, it'll be a pleasure working with you," he stated. He turned to Ashley, hoping she would do the same. She was silent for a moment. He nudged her and she jolted upright.

"Uh... my name is Ashley Styrmisdóttir. It will be a pleasure working with you!" She announced bashfully. Some of the other workers chuckled at her childish timidity. Shyness was something that came often with the younger workers, but this girl was ridiculous. She blushed in response.

Everest put a hand on her shoulder warmly. "Hey, relax a little," he muttered. "It's your first day, so don't worry about messing up, they expect these things from us." Ashley looked up at him and nodded tersely. He smiled back with mirth, which she returned kindly.

The manager waited until the reactions of the other workers died down until he began to speak again. "Right, now that we have that out the way..."

* * *

After the introduction, he began to assign everyone to their stations. Johanna was assigned to be a mentor to the two of them and show them the ropes. Something that she protested to mainly because she hardly had the energy or patience to handle both of them. The manager told her that it was already decided by the assistant manager and himself that it would be best if she did it. She still held her gripes, but she politely backed down. When the meeting adjourned, they both met her at the front area of the store. Everest was the first to speak. "Hey, so you're Johanna, right?" Everest said in an odd accent that she'd never heard before.

"Yes. And you two must be my trainees," she replied in an even tone.

"That's right. I'm Everest and this is Ashley, in case you didn't hear," he uttered, pointing to the shy teen to his right.

"Oh, don't worry, I heard," she remarked. "I heard we'd get some new employees, but I didn't know it'd happen so soon. Or with anyone so young." She glanced specifically at Ashley when she said that.

"Uh..." Ashley turned away from the stare. 

"Oh, if you don't mind me asking, Mr. Sagarmatha where exactly are you from?" She asked turning to him. At that moment she noticed his appearance, he had noticed his unique appearance compared to most of the residents of Trolberg. Though he appeared to be just slightly younger than e looked as if he'd come straight out of an old movie during the fifties. He had tan skin, straight black hair that reached just a little past his shoulders, and was quite tall. He had a black shirt and on top of it was a brown bomber jacket that was made with leather, and the inside was made with wool. His style was definitely not that of Trolberg.

"Actually, I'm from America, though I was raised in Mexico. I just moved to Trolberg a few weeks ago." He explained.

"Oh, I see. Welcome to Trolberg, then."

"Thanks," he said flatly.

From then on she proceeded to show the two the entire store and explained all of the details of what they would do, and what customers would possibly ask for. All the while, Everest asked astute questions, making sure no detail was left out. Ashley paid attention as well, but whenever Johanna glanced at her or asked her a question she got flustered and went silent.

This continued throughout the entire day, and eventually, all the other employees had clocked out. Before she and the two new employees did the same, she stopped them. "What is it?" Everest asked.

"You two did great today, and if you keep that same enthusiasm..." She handed them name tags with their names on them. "You'll make it far here."

Everest took the name tag and stared at it for a moment. He quickly clipped it on his shirt and replied curtly, "Thank you, you don't know how much this means to me."

As Ashley took her tag, Johanna smiled. "I hope you two do good around here."

As they clocked out, Everest rushed out the door and started walking home. Ashley, however, stood and stared at Johanna as if she had something to say. Johanna however was eager to go home and walked past her and to the door.

"Um...!" She murmured to get her attention. "I just wanted to say sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry for what?"

Before Ashley could speak a woman who appeared to be almost Johanna's age walked in. She quickly grabbed her wrist and began walking toward the door. "Boss-- er... Mom?"

"Come on, we need to go! I don't have all the time in the world to wait for you. Let's get out of this dump," she continued to pull her out of the area. 

"Uh... see you tomorrow... miss Johanna..." Ashley said, hardly loud enough for her to hear.

"...yeah, see you tomorrow," Johanna replied, standing awkwardly as the teen was rushed out by her mother.

* * *

The rest of the day was simply going to pick up Hilda from her friend Frida's house, making dinner, and spending the last few hours of her day coming up with simple designs while Hilda slept. At least, that was what she wanted to do, but she ended up drawing little doodles instead. She drew what she saw in that nightmare, a marra who appeared to be no older than seventeen years, and a shadow. He appeared to be two heads taller than her, wearing dark clothing, and had distinguishable violet eyes. He was shrouded in darkness when he faced her, and his voice sounded so... familiar.

Once she realized what time it was, she put up all her things and began to head to her bed, still thinking about the shadow she saw last night.

* * *

That night, far away from Johanna's house, David found himself tossing and turning in his bed, nightmares plaguing his slumber. A marra swirled around his body, giving him negative thoughts and feeding off of his cowardice. Despite the fact that he had a leather belt covering his chest to ward off the marra. After an hour of torture in his mind, he awoke abruptly. He and the marra stared at each other for a moment. A thin line of white shined across her face, a smile. She rushed out the window, her body leaving behind a trail of ash instead of the normal glowing green. The boy stared groggily and moved to the window, watching the shadow move from his house, down the street, and past the corner. 

David returned to his bed feeling even more spooked than before. A marra had managed to get past the belts, the natural way to make a marra leave as they keep them from using their powers? This marra somehow had immunity to it. How was that possible? He wondered. And just what kind of marra was that, anyway? It was almost like a shadow rather than an actual marra. It unnerved him that the marra still tried to attack his dreams even after the debacle that occurred a few months ago with the black hound. He and Frida had recovered from the incident, and Hilda and Frida had fixed their problem as well, but he still had the same problem now as he did then. The Marra. 

They frustrated him to no end, constantly entering his only safe space and disturbing the sense of solace during his slumber. That night, he ended up getting no sleep whatsoever. Maybe he was simply too frustrated to sleep. Maybe he was too nervous to sleep. Maybe it was the sense of dread he felt when thinking about the marra, what they did, or what they might have done without his knowledge. His head kept swirling around these thoughts. Whatever the reason, he ignored it after he began to see the blue light of dawn. He turned his body to look at the window as the sun came up, and heard the dove at his perch begin to chirp a hopeful song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I get into the nitty-gritty I'd like to say thank you for reading this story. Hopefully, you find it interesting and maybe even eye-opening in some ways. Also, this will definitely be deviating away from the Hilda canon. There will be magic in this story along with a few other things. For example, original characters. As you can see, I've introduced the first two OCs into the story. And they will not be the only ones! There will be many more. As both protagonists and antagonists.
> 
> If you have any questions or criticism please leave a comment and I'll try my best to reply as soon as I can. Once again, thank you for reading.


	3. The Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David tells Hilda and Frida about his nightmare.

It was another frigid afternoon, and it was clear to Hilda that the summer had gone by and gave way to the multicolored leaves of autumn. Typically, David, Frida, and Hilda would spend their time enjoying the beautiful scenery and maybe take a walk around the town to see the decorations that other people might have put up on their houses and the streets.

But instead, they spent their time at the park. They were relatively alone except for the few people that would pass by every once in a while. Hilda was seated on the swing her feet barely touching the rubber mulch covered ground. Frida sat on the bench a few feet away from her, placing her arm on the armrest and leaning on it, placing her head in her hand. David sat on the raised stone ledge on the hill, he leaned down slightly so he could see his friends better. 

Earlier that day, David had come into school in a despondent state. He was even more silent than normal, didn't pay any attention in class, and didn't respond to Hilda and Frida's attempts to talk to him. Even during lunch, he hardly said anything. Picking at his food and leaving as soon as he was done. But after school, he saw both of them and dragged them to the park to talk. She protested the spontaneity and the forceful way he brought them there, (calling their names and pulling them by the wrists until they agreed to) but didn't say anything, because it seemed important to David. And it must have been especially important if he needed privacy to say it. "What did you want to talk about David?"

"They're back," he said. "The marra, they've come back for me," His pained expression was that of someone who was becoming worn down. As if the pillars that had sustained him had finally cracked and broke.

"What do you mean?" Hilda asked, swinging her legs forward.

"Last night, I had the worst nightmare that I've had in a while," he spared them the details, but as he spoke about it, remnants of the memory came out. He still recalled the cruel things that she made him do. "and when I woke up, I saw a shadow race out my window. It left a trail like a marra... but instead of being green, it was black like ash."

"What? A marra that leaves ash? How is that possible?" Hilda replied, surprised slightly.

"It left ash in its trail, and... it didn't have any eyes. It looked like a complete shadow." He remembered, shuddering at the memory.

"Wow, that's scary..." Frida murmured to herself. "I'm sorry that happened. Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"I was figuring something out." He replied instantly as if he expected the question. "I was thinking about whether or not I wanted to find this shadow by myself or not..."

"That's not happening. We'll both help you with any problem you have, and you know that." Frida said.

"That's not what I meant." He explained. "I meant..."

"...You want to confront the marra, don't you?" Hilda interjected.

"They would have to know! It's one of their own."

"They would, but they would never tell us. Remember the last time you confronted them?" Frida pointed out. David glanced at her -- that's right -- he thought, she was there for the entire thing. "It didn't go well, and they didn't even listen when you finally snapped."

He sighed, placing his head in his hand. "Darn it," he muttered. "I just want it to stop... I just want to be rid of these stupid marra!"

"Well, we can ask the rat king, he knows almost everything," Hilda suggested. David grimaced in disgust and Frida almost retched. "What?"

"I'm not asking that beast..." She paused, clutching her now nauseated stomach. "No, I'll  _ never _ ask that creature anything. Even if my life depended on it..." Frida replied.

David nodded in agreement. "Why would you even consider going to him?"

"Because I want to do something about them too, especially since..." Hilda stopped and glanced at her friends who looked at her slightly concerned.

"What?" Frida asked.

"Oh, I guess I didn't tell you guys then..." she paused, feeling hesitant to tell them and make them worry. Frida gave her a glare that told her to tell her immediately, and David gave her a similar look. "Sorry, um... It's nothing."

"If it were nothing, then you wouldn't be so hesitant to tell us." Frida shot back.

Knowing that she was backed into a corner, Hilda spilled the beans. "Okay. The other day..." she began relaying all the things that happened that night. 

"Why didn't you tell us?" was the first question that arose, specifically from David who appeared to be quite troubled by the fact that now they were hurting not only him but his friend's parents as well. She replied, "I didn't want to bother you two with it. We just got back to normal, and I didn't want to lose that sense of normality again so quickly." she looked up at Frida, who instantly understood.

"It's alright, Hilda, you can tell us about these things. You help us all the time with our problems, so the least we can do is help you." Frida reassured her. "Besides, we have a different sense of normal than others do."

Hilda smiled slightly. "Thank you," she replied, sitting up from the swing and wiping a tear from her eye. The second question was for more details on what actually happened. She gave all the details she could, even remembering a few more things that she had forgotten. For example, the floorboards creaking had woke her up, and she saw a bright green light when she looked under the door but she had chalked it up to her imagination. Now that she could see what was happening, this information was precious. And it would be vital to the process of finding out what was truly behind this.

The third and final question, "Shouldn't you tell your mum about David's marra?" was the most difficult question of them all. Hilda sighed and put a hand to her chin in thought. "I suppose I should, but I won't tell her directly. Because if I told her that Marra might be haunting us tonight, I don't think that she or I would be getting any sleep any time soon. And that would prevent us from finding them in the first place."

"Unless we do another stakeout?"

David immediately shook his head. "No... I'm not doing that again. Besides, we can't just find one and expect her to rat out the others. Or chase shadows of things that might not even exist in the first place."

"Then, how would we go about finding them?" Frida asked him. But he simpered as she asked.

"I say we ask that librarian again. She seems to know everything." David replied. 

"And what if she doesn't know anything?" Frida said matter-of-factly. David didn't reply, only choosing to frown and turn away from her.

"We should probably just ask as many people as possible if they might have seen this shadow, or if they've encountered marra during their sleep," Hilda suggested. "But if all else fails, we can ask the librarian if she knows anything. Is everyone fine with that?"

They both nodded.

"Good, now let's find this shadow."

* * *

It had been a day since Ashley had joined the team of the store and it was already proving difficult to keep up her act. People always wanted to socialize with her and ask her questions about where she was from, why she came to Trolberg, and other personal questions. This forced her to come up with sufficient answers on the fly if she wanted to avoid losing their trust, which was already difficult given that she was extremely socially anxious and clearly unqualified for this mission that the boss had given her. 

She often said that she was from Manchester, which wasn't untrue. She was born in Manchester, but after she turned six, she was sent to live with her half-sisters, who were marra.

She had to live with them whether she liked it or not because if anyone at her original home had known that she was a marra she would have been hunted down by mages or humans and killed immediately. However, the marra were not any different from human and mage persecutors, if a bit more subtle. It was almost as if she had come to Trolberg to escape both sides of her heritage.

She left with her only friend, Harper. They had come and were met with the marra of the huldrawood who were in similar situations. All led and taken care of by the boss. 

The boss herself was charismatic and had a strong presence when needed, but not much was known of her except the fact that she was the strongest marra in their group by far. She had them do missions and jobs in return for her keeping them safe. Simple things, for instance, as feeding off of nightmares or making sure no mages or humans that knew of their hideout told someone else.

The other day when she had come in to interrupt her and Johanna's conversation disguised as her mother was the first time she had seen the boss outside of a marra meeting. Ashley chalked it up to being that this was the first day of her mission and she wanted to see if everything was going smoothly.

"Hey, how's everything going?"

Ashley let out a small squeak as she jumped in fright. It was Johanna.

"Are you okay?" she asked, giggling at her reaction. "You've been working for five and a half hours, you're required to take a break after working six hours, you know."

"Oh... I didn't know," she replied timidly, finishing what she was doing on the shelves in front of her and facing her. "Does that mean I can take a break now?"

"Of course. You just clock out and when you're done with your break you can go and clock right back in," she explained. "I'd recommend you get something to eat while you do. You still have four and a half hours on your shift."

"Okay, thank you," Ashley responded, nearly rushing off.

"Hey, wait!"

Ashley turned back to face Johanna. "Hm?"

"Uh..." she thought about asking about what she was saying yesterday, but she decided against it. "...nothing, sorry." she smiled.

As Ashley walked to clock out, she glanced at Everest who was placing boxes on shelves. He turned around and waved with a small, sincere smile. The few days she had seen him, he had been the most genuine, carefree soul she had met in a long time. He was always helping others, taking their shifts, and helping them with their problems. The air seemed to lighten whenever he was around, and everyone felt much better when he was around. Which made it all more confusing as to why she had to keep tabs on him. She assumed it was for good reason if the boss had to come in and make sure everything was alright. But the question still stood.

What could the boss possibly want with him?

* * *

Johanna stood next to Everest as he stood on a ladder, placing the boxes in their right places. She had been observing him and Ashley, making sure they did their jobs correctly. He had been doing an excellent job so far, picking up on every single thing that she had taught him. "Nice work, Everest."

"Thank you, miss Johanna," he replied, slowly coming down.

"Hey, you can just call me Johanna," she said, flashing a soft smile.

He blushed slightly, scratching the back of his neck. "Oh, well, okay then. I appreciate it, Johanna."

She giggled at his embarrassment. "You're welcome."

"Ah, well, I have to handle the stock in the back," he said, changing the topic quickly. "Was there anything you needed?"

"No, I just wanted to check up on you... see how you were doing. And maybe get to know you a little. How many jobs have you had before this one?"

"Not any like this, I lived a fair share of my life sheltered away," he replied. She stared at him, shocked for a moment. "Well, I lived most of my life living off my dad's legacy... then I decided that I wanted to try and forge my own, in this town."

"Well, that's nice," she said. "What did you want to do here?"

"I don't know yet. But I hope to find out in this town," he said. "Though I've only been around here for a short time, I feel that I'd be lying to myself if I said that I hadn't already formed an attachment to this town." he returned her bright smile.

"This town seems to have that effect on people. Even me, when I had to move here as a child. It was difficult, though I found a love for this town, y'know?" she said.

Everest stared at her for a moment, then glanced to the side for a moment. She looked at him intently when he did, noticing that he had a distant stare on his face. "I do," he spoke. There was a moment of silence between them before he realized that he still had a job to do. "Oh, uh... I have to..."

"I understand. It was nice getting to know you some more, Everest Sagarmatha."

"It was nice getting to know you too, mi-- Johanna." he shook her hand and headed to where he needed to be.

* * *

The Librarian sighed as she slid down her ladder, glancing at the 12-year olds surrounding it. They stared at her with a morbid curiosity, as if they were ready to ask something that shouldn't be asked. She promptly ushered them away from the circulation section and to the reference section, away from prying eyes. She took a moment to sit down in one of the chairs as they ask their questions. If she was going to answer questions, she might as well take a short break, being she had done a lot of work in the last few days. "What is it with you and coming to me whenever there's an issue? Not that I am complaining."

"We know you know about this one," Hilda said, stepping forth. "It's become obvious that the marra have become more of a problem than they were just a few months ago. Everyone has been more miserable and tired than before." This had become apparent to them throughout their search, as they went from person to person it seemed everyone in Trolberg had been affected by whatever the marra were doing. Even the adults who had, before her mother's nightmare, been immune to the marra. This unnerved the three of them, forcing them to go to someone who had been in a sound state of mind, the Librarian being their first option. She appeared to be much better than the other adults they had seen that day.

"Although I can't deny the fact that a wave of depression has affected the city, and maybe there has been a lack of sleep, I don't see a single thing that indicates the marra as the issue," she snapped back.

Hilda frowned. "No, it is them. We asked almost everyone in town if they saw a green light or had a nightmare last night or the night before. Almost all of them said that they saw either one."

"Doesn't mean they're marra," She remarked.

"They are the most logical possibility though, and if there's a chance that marra could be affecting people... especially since they can bypass the leather belts now," Frida replied.

"Then what would you do? If our defenses don't work, what's stopping them from attacking you when you find out it's them? What's stopping them from doing something far worse than that?" She pressed. Hilda and Frida looked down with vain expressions. "Listen, you should stop right now. Once you find out what's happening in this town, you'll regret it."

David, however, did not back down. "Tell us how to stop them," he growled sharply. "I won't leave until you do."

She sighed, standing up and walking toward one of the computers in a long row of computers separated by thin wooden walls. Next to the computers was a stack of sticky papers and a few small pencils. She took one small paper and a pencil and scribbled hastily on it. She walked back to them handing over the paper. It had an address and a name. "That should help. This is a  _ mage _ that recently came here to deal with the odd occurrences in this town. This is where he lives now, and if you can get him to talk, then whatever problem you have with the marra will be dealt with. However..." she began to walk away, "...even I cannot convince him to do such things. If you could, it would be nothing short of a miracle."

They all stared at the paper intently. It was odd to them how there was something like a magical inspector in the town and they did not even know about him. Hilda read it, then read it again, this time aloud. "Everest Sagarmatha?"


	4. The Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hilda, Frida, and David meet Everest and try to convince him to take on the marra, and Ashley talks with the marra's leader and Johanna.

Ashley sighed at the sight of the Huldrawood, standing at the entrance to the boss' cabin, hesitating to enter. She would have to report to the boss what she had learned about Everest that day. But she knew there wouldn't be much to say, other than the fact that she had a short conversation with him. It hadn't been very informative.

_"Hey, Ashley!" he called out to her, waving his hand in a friendly manner. She turned away from her task, facing him. Once she realized who it was she stood up, looking him in the eyes for a moment before sheepishly looking away. "How's the second day going? Got a handle on things yet?"_

_"Uh, I... I think I'm getting the hang of it..." she replied. As he smiled she held her hands at her waist, then at her sides. "Lifting the boxes is kind of difficult though..."_

_"Hey, if you ever have a problem just ask me or Johanna. I'm always willing to help, and I'm sure that she is as well."_

_"Th-thank you," she responded._

_"No problem! Anyway, just wanted to check on you. I'll see you tomorrow." He said before walking out of the store._

That was just about the extent of their interactions. She admitted that maybe she should have engaged him more, but once again her anxious nature got the best of her. In the end, she ended up with more second-hand info than concrete facts. Hopefully, she thought, this would appease the boss.

She reminded herself of her inadequacy for this particular objective, and that if she were to fail, she would end up either kicked out of this little gang or replaced for someone better. And how little failure the boss would take. She remembered once, at the beginning of her residency in the Huld, a short, petite, girl who had introduced her to the other marra girls. She, along with her other friend, Harper had shown Ashley to every single marra in the group personally. It was a truly warm welcome. And every day she would greet her with the same courtesy. But after two weeks or so, she was sent on a job and returned empty-handed. The boss chewed her out loudly in front of all of them, and then brought her deep into the forest, where no one would follow. They stayed there for ten minutes before returning. The young marra was taken by some of the older marra, down the path that led outside the central area where they resided. Before she was taken, however, everyone had a glance at her face.

She returned with a blank stare as if she were gazing constantly into a world of absolute nothingness. 

The boss had made a point to show that this was what happened to anyone who would fail. This was what made her the most powerful marra in the group, her abilities were beyond their comprehension. She could send them to a fate worse than death on a whim. This terrified Ashley at first, but she soon calmed down, realizing that if she simply did whatever the boss told her to down to the absolute 'T' she would be just fine. Knowing this still gave her constant anxiety, however. But she ignored this and went in anyway.

The boss' cabin was simply constructed on the outside, it was a redwood cabin with cypress roofing. It was dark green with a black roof and a chimney. It differed from the others, which were either red or brown. The inside was where the differences truly shined, however. The inside was decorated with multiple emblems and paintings of women with painted red crosses over their faces. There was almost no furniture at all, excluding the couch and loveseat, the walls were a sickening green, the floors were drab brown, and the furniture a dull burgundy. 

To say the least, it looked odd and her choice of home decor unnerved her more than she would have thought possible.

Just across the living room was her office, and adjacent to the door was what looked like a kitchen. Ashley walked tentatively into the boss' office, opening the door slightly, only to have it pulled open forcefully by the telekinesis of the boss. "You're late," she said, sitting in the middle of the desk in front of her. Unlike the room that preceded this one, this room was doused in a more natural-looking decor. The room had warm colors, red and brown took up the majority of the colors including the carpet, her desk, the chairs, and her bookshelf. Behind her was a small, lit fireplace lighting the room in dull orange. The boss's face was covered by shadows, leaving her to only see her silhouette. "I had readied a cup of tea for you, but now it's become cold."

"Uh, I'm sorry," Ashley replied, glancing at the cup of tea on the desk. She sighed before taking a seat in the chair in front of her. "I've never been in any of the other cabins, so I was a little nervous coming into yours."

"I see," she muttered, leaning forward and clasping her hands together. "You know, soon you'll be in a very compromising situation, and you'll have to overcome this anxiety of yours."

"I just hope it won't be too soon," Ashley sighed, looking at her shoes.

The boss chuckled and moved onto the main topic. "Do you understand what I brought you here for?"

Ashley answered truthfully. "Uh... no."

"I brought you here because there's something that I want to tell you and **only** you," She answered for her. "But, this can come after your report."

Ashley told her about the lack of information and that she could scarcely understand why she wanted information on such a friendly man or why someone so inadequate was picked for the job to try and pick his brain or keep tabs on him when she hardly knew how to take care of herself. The boss laughed again as she said this, before swiveling her chair away from her. "You think too little of yourself, Ashley, I wouldn't have picked you if I didn't think you were adequate for this. It isn't as simple as picking someone who can hide in plain sight if it were, I would have chosen your friend Harper for the job... even if she messed up by haunting that blue-haired child's mother. Hell, out of everyone in the camp, she would be the only one I would pick for something like that. But this? This is different."

The world around Ashley seemed to collapse on itself, forming an entirely new setting around her. The red monochromatic office room gave way to the cold and light colors of the small retail store. "I didn't choose you because of your skills. I chose you because of your lack of them..." she elaborated, not moving from her spot in the chair. "Harper, she would have to hide from them, blend in, and avoid being noticed. You, however, do not need to blend in, as you fit in all by yourself..."

The other workers walked past her smiling and greeting her happily. They disappeared as quickly as they formed. "Hey, Ashley!"

"Good morning." They said.

"How are you?" They said.

"Keep up the good work!" They said.

Ashley kept silent, however, allowing the dream to emphasize her point and nothing more. "...do you understand now?"

"I think so..." she replied meekly as the world returned to its origin in the office.

"Good," she spoke, standing up from the chair. "Now, what do you know of mages?"

"Uh, mages?" she uttered, holding a hand to her mouth in contemplation. "Well, all I know is that before I lived with my sisters, I thought that they were nothing but a myth... b-but after I went home, and saw the things that I saw... I started to understand what the world truly was. It's not as bound by rules as we like it to be. And from what the other marra have told me, the mages are at the center of the abnormalities."

"Although you've been here for a short while, you know a fair amount about them, despite not having run into one yet," the boss said. "All you need to know is: Mages are the direct enemy of us marra. They are a powerful race, a single one could have enough power to defeat this entire camp." her eyes turned to Ashley, green and piercing. "He is known as one of the best of the best and could be detrimental to what I plan to do. Which is why I need you to keep him under a watchful eye. Do you think you can do that?"

Ashley nodded hesitantly, still unsure of her role as the infiltrator. "What if I fail?"

The boss walked up to her, caressing her cheek in a caring manner. "Don't worry, you won't fail. I don't make mistakes," she said, smiling grimly.

* * *

"This is the place it said, right?" David asked, to make sure Hilda was positive. Hilda nodded, showing him the small post-it note that the librarian gave her. "It looks a little too normal for someone who can stop **all** of the marra."

"What did you think it _would_ look like?" Frida questioned.

"Dunno. Probably a house bigger than my own... maybe colored red with a nice porch with... hey! Where are you going?!" he rushed to follow behind the two who were already walking across the street to ring the bell of the duplex apartment building. It was a tall, red brick house, with four windows on the front of the house and four on the right side. The windows were outlined by dark blue slats of wood. 

The bell resonated within the house before someone began to walk up to the door and open it for the three of them. It was a young woman who seemed to be old enough to start college. "Oh, and who might you be?"

"We're looking for an Everest... Saga-matha?" She struggled to pronounce his name. "We heard that he would be in this house."

"You must mean our upstairs neighbor," she turned around waving her hand for them to come. "Follow me. I'll show you where he is."

They walked through the fairly large apartment building, as they walked through, it was clear that the house was very lively, sounds erupting from the living area as they walked past. She explained to them that she had five other people that lived there. 

She had given Everest a bedroom, access to whatever was in her kitchen, and allowed him to work in his own office. They had asked her why he lived here, knowing that there would be five people below him. She said something that vaguely meant that he wasn't given a choice to stay here. Frida broke the short silence that ensued. "Why?"

"Maybe ask him yourself," she replied. They realized that they were standing in front of his door. As they turned to face her again, she was gone.

She smiled, leaving them at his door. They stood there in silence for a few moments. "So, who's going to knock?" David asked.

Frida was about to speak before Hilda rapped her knuckles against the wooden door. "Hello?" She said.

A man opened the door, he was much bigger and taller than they expected. He was wearing a casual outfit: a white shirt, and some regular black pants. His tone was warm and bright, with a flat inflection. "I take it you sparrow scouts aren't here to sell me cookies," He said.

"Uh..." They all stumbled over their words.

"What do you want?" he said.

"Um... we... uh..." they all spoke.

"Well?" he pressed.

"M-marra... uh we want to--" David stuttered. "We want to talk about the marra..."

"Marra? Oh! Kaisa already told me about you three, she said that you needed my help with something... on the arcane side?" He said, smiling as he lifted his right-hand showing them a light flicker of fire. "What did you need?"

This seemed to snap them out of their trance, they watched in awe at the spontaneous magic ability. The fire seemed to sustain without creating smoke. They all oohed and aahed at it. Frida quickly asking him an important question. "What are you?"

He stepped back, raising his hands into the air in an animated fashion. "I'm a mage!" He said. As he stepped back, the room was made visible. It was a fairly large room with stacks of papers and books scattered messily in stacks. A few of them appearing to be old and worn, suggesting that they held something more mystical than meets the eye. The room was painted with a golden color and was a dark orange at the base and crown of the wall. 

The three walked in, slowly admiring the recherché feeling that it gave off. Hilda looked at the old books, while Frida peeled a few pages from a nearby stack and read it in curiosity, David looked at the old artifacts that he had on the shelf of his wall. He preened in their amazement of his room. "So, you really _are_ a mage huh?" Frida spoke, still looking at the papers that lined the floor of his room.

"Yeah," he announced. "What did you three want? I know you didn't come to see a mage without a request."

"Hold on? How do we know you're a real mage? How do we know that what you did wasn't some parlor trick?" David quickly asked.

"Parlor trick? What do you think this entire room is for? Do you think I just like skulls and books or something?" he asked in disbelief.

"I've seen real mystical things, while your choice of decor may be interesting, to say the least, nothing about it proves that you are a mage, or that you can help us," Frida replied.

"So what? You want a demonstration or something? Don't make me laugh, you kids come to me asking for help, then ask me to show _you_ that I'm a mage."

"This is an urgent thing," Hilda declared. "We need to know if you can do what you say that you can."

"Alright, fine," he muttered indignantly. He took a deep breath as he held his hands to his stomach as a temple's monk would. He continued this deep breathing until his body seemed to change shape into something more malleable. He became shrouded in a dark cloud as his body began to pull into his shadow as if he was being pulled in by quicksand. His entire body became enveloped in the darkness and he disappeared before their eyes. David was shocked, as he walked over to the spot where he once stood and stamped his foot on the ground. 

"He's gone!" David announced to the group.

"Not entirely," his voice resonated somewhere within the room.

"Where did you go?" Hilda asked. Just after the words came from her lips, his head began to appear from her shadow behind her. A dark viscous liquid dripped off his head as the rest of his body came out of her shadow, and stood in the doorway.

"Right here," he said triumphantly. "That's shadow magic." He walked back into the room, sitting down on the ground in front of David. "Now, what was so urgent that you needed to come to me?"

All the children took glances at each other before Hilda decided to speak first. "There's been a nightmare outbreak in the city..."

"Outbreak? You make it sound like a disease or a scourge. Nightmares are a natural thing in humans," he began to explain.

"No, we aren't talking about regular nightmares, we're talking about the type of nightmare that's created," Everest's head tilted to the side in confusion to Hilda's explanation. "We have a marra problem."

He leaned backward, frowning lightly. "Is that it? Just wrap a leather belt around your body and head to sleep. You'll be fine."

"That's not what we..."

"Well, you can drink some coffee before sleeping, you can take its hat if it's wearing one, you can throw some tied rope at it, invite it for breakfast, change your sleeping position, or on your front door, just smack some feca--"

"No!" She shouted snapping him out of his rant and shocking the other two. "I... look. David saw a marra that got past the leather belt. We want to know if you can stop them from haunting the citizens of Trolberg... for good."

His expression shifted quickly, fazed slightly by the last of her words. "No, I can't do that."

"Why not?" she pushed.

He looked down sullenly, his mood taking a downturn. "The marra, they..." he exhaled. "Look, if it involves the marra, I can't help you."

"Can't? Or won't?" Frida accused.

"Both. I will not interfere with the marra," He stood up, his face becoming irate. "I'm not gonna go out on a limb because of you three. These marra, they are something else. All I can do is prevent them from harming you." he sighed as he turned away. "You should stop here before things get too complicated for you to handle."

A silence filled the room. There was a clear reason that he wouldn't do this, but he would not tell. Hilda and David would not leave until he agreed. They were at an impasse. The silence went on for a few moments before Hilda growled back. "Fine! If you won't help us, then we'll just deal with them ourselves!"

They left the room, Hilda slamming the door leaving Everest to himself.

* * *

Johanna could not stop staring at the drawing she had made. It was a vague drawing, but an understandable one. It reminded her of an old painting she saw, one of a blurry woman with a parasol. When she first saw it in college, she thought it was just a blurry painting of a woman, that it held no meaning at all. That was until she had learned it was a painting of his daughter on a bright sunny day, the light reflecting off her clothes, the grass, and of course, her parasol. She blends perfectly with her background, she is also in step with the movement of the clouds, and the play of light and shadow created by the parasol further accentuates soft, supple, sunlight that illuminates the scene. However, you cannot see her face even with the light.

She appears almost like a dream.

In a way, the drawing before her returned her to that way of thinking for a moment. The man was shrouded in shadows, with light only coming in on his right side. The more she looked at it as if it were a dream, the more it became clear to her who it was. Although the revelation hadn't dawned on her yet, she knew she was close to her "eureka" moment.

Since then, she couldn't help but think of his presence that night as a miracle. Like a guardian angel had come from above and helped her through what appeared to be an attack on her mind and spirit. She spent her day off walking around town pondering if the nightmare was her imagination, or if it was something else, stress getting to her head, maybe it was the marra that Hilda kept going on about, maybe...

She stopped as soon as she felt someone bump against her then heard them fall onto their back. Johanna managed to keep her balance and rubbed her chest as she bumped into her pretty hard, "Ah, sorry about that. Are you...?"

She looked at the girl that she bumped into, she was slightly shorter than her and had mid-length red hair. She massaged her head tenderly, it appeared to have been a bad hit for her. "Darn that hurt, sorry lady. I'm just..."

"Ashley?" Johanna asked.

"Johanna?" Ashley asked.

They stared at each other for a few moments, still in shock of running into each other, before Johanna took the initiative. "Sorry. Let me help you up," Johanna offered her a hand and helped her onto her feet. "You must be in a rush today. Going somewhere?"

She didn't say anything. She was probably dazed from the hit to her head or seeing her supervisor out in public like this. "Uh, sorry. I was trying to get somewhere today," she glanced at the time on her watch. "But I don't think that I'll be able to make it there today..."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was it important?"

"Not really. I just wanted to be there, but I don't have to be there today. I think that I'll just head home now," Her tone going lower until it reached a low mutter. 

"Then I'll walk with you. Is that alright?" she asked.

"Sure," she said, beginning to walk in the opposite direction. The two walked for a few moments before Johanna broke the silence.

"So, how has your first day off been?" she asked, trying to make conversation.

Ashley thought for a second her pace lagging just as long until she could come up with an answer. After her talk with the boss, Ashley had tried to talk to the other marra about what they were doing, but they all said that she wouldn't understand, that she was too young, and that instead of asking whether or not it was right she should just do her job and work out the details once it was all over. 

More and more she was beginning to realize that her world that she had imagined being perfect was less than it appeared to be. She had stopped after the memories had come to her again, that she wouldn't be accepted by the people she considered friends. Or worse, that she may have contributed to something sinister. She sighed and answered her. "It was alright, I guess. It's weird not having much to do though."

"Don't you have any friends?"

"Not ones that I like to hang out with all the time," she replied. "You're the exception, though. I mean... unless we aren't friends."

"No, you could say we are sort of friends, even though I'm your boss," Johanna responded with a smile. "Though I hardly know anything about you, other than your name and where you're from."

"Well," she started, wondering if this was a good idea, however, she conceded. "What do you want to know?"

"It's not like I have a list of questions for you, and I won't force answers out of you. If you don't want to talk to me, then don't. Is that alright?" Johanna said, placing her hands in her pockets and beginning to cross the street. She looked back at Ashley as the last car turned past her. "Are you going to cross, or will I be the only one?"

"Wait up!" she called out, running to catch up. "Sorry, I was... thinking." the two walked for a few more moments in relative silence, allowing the city sounds to fill the air between them. "What did you want to know?" 

Johanna put her hand to her chin as she walked, thinking about what she wanted to ask. "What do you like to do for fun?"

"I don't do much. My friend Harper and I used to enjoy playing around in the leaves this time of year, though," she said. "That was before I even got anywhere near here."

"What was your old town like?"

"Miserable. My town wasn't very rich, money-wise or people-wise. It was a sort of... what's the word... cesspool of distrust and resentment. I never liked it there, but my family was always so nice. And Harper always managed to cheer me up."

"Who's Harper?" Ashley asked.

"Ah, well," Ashley paused. "She was a very good friend of mine. We both moved here at the same time after our town became... a little toxic. We moved in with one of her friends who lived in the Huldrawood."

"She sounds like a nice girl," she said.

Ashley sighed, "Well, lately, she's become a little... distant. She's become more caught up with... her friends and other things. It's almost like I'm being left behind."

"I'm sorry about that, Ashley," Johanna replied.

Ashley stayed quiet for a few moments, they continued to walk down the street in complete silence. Ashley felt an awkwardness in the silence, deciding to break the ice between them. "Why did you decide to work in retail? You can't just be here because you like the job."

"No, I need it for my graphic design business," she explained. "I've been trying my best to advertise it, but I haven't had many clients." _Aside from the few I had gotten through Hilda's evil mice._ She chuckled to herself.

"Graphic design... what is that?" Ashley asked.

"...It's like a type of language. It's to communicate specific things through a visual medium. Like how the color red makes you think of passion or power, or blue makes you think of authority and loyalty."

"I never thought of it like that."

"You aren't supposed to. If people knew about the stuff that goes into logos, they wouldn't want to buy stuff from them. They'd think that a company is fake if they use different devices to get by."

"But aren't they? Why can't a company just be good by itself?" Ashley wondered.

"People say not to judge a book by its cover, but most of the time that's untrue. Whether you like to or not, you judge, and whether you like it or not, a job to make the cover of a book look as good as possible will always be open," she explained. "A product can be as good as it wants. But without a good appearance, what's inside won't matter."

"I don't get why people have to judge only by appearances..." she sighed, slightly melancholic.

"My daughter is the same way. She thought that thinking just because of the way someone looked that they were dangerous, was superficial and wrong." Johanna said, recalling the troll incident at Hilda's school. 

"I heard from some of the other workers that you have a daughter. I never took you for a motherly type."

"What makes you say that?" she asked, curious.

"Uh, well, you just seemed really young and I always thought you were single, " she said. Johanna's step faltered at that, and she tripped over herself but caught herself halfway. "Oh, sorry, d-did I say something...?"

"No, you didn't know... my husband... he died. A long time ago," she said, somberly. 

"I-I'm sorry, how did he die?"

"He had an accident," she said, turning her face away from Ashley. "I don't want to talk about it."

While she had become nigh-obsessed with the silhouette she saw that night, she had allowed the horrible dream that came with it to be swept under the mat of her consciousness. 

_You killed him!_

She wouldn't ever forget that dream for as long as she lived.

The silence between them continued as they walked down the street and took a distinct, sharp turn. "This got off to a rough start," Ashley murmured. 

"Ah, I'm sorry," Johanna uttered in a depressed tone.

"No, I understand. I lost someone too. I was really young when my mom died," she said, matching her tone. "I always heard from my dad that she was a great woman, but I hardly knew her so, I never understood any of the good things he said about her."

Johanna stayed silent as Ashley spoke.

"I wish that I got to know her, you know? Maybe knowing her would have made my life a lot different." Ashley said, looking down. Once she looked up again, she and Johanna stopped. "Oh, we're here."

They had stopped at the path leading to the Huldrawood. Johanna looked slightly confused until Ashley began to walk on the path. "S-see you at work."

Johanna waved back and watched as she disappeared from her sight.

* * *

Everest had skipped dinner that night. Deciding throw himself into his work instead, spending the latter half of the day reading and writing in his old, arcane books. As he continued to read the books, he remembered the words of the one who sent him to enter Trolberg. 

_"You are simply an observer, for now. You will not do anything more than inform us of the situation there. Understand?"_

However, no matter how much he tried to avoid it, he had to broach the topic of the marra. They had grown from being simple spirits, meant to bring nightmares and dreams to all. To becoming evil spirits whose only objective was to suck out all mental capabilities from sleeping people, not only to feed but also for sport. He had managed to fend off a few from the marra, but no matter what, he was spread too thin. "And of course, most mages are barred from being here because of **that thing** ," he muttered. "Ah, what the hell do I do...?"

He stopped writing in the books, and instead looked out the window to the sunset. The mage sighed as he saw the day turn to night, completely deflated. "Maybe I should have helped those kids."

"No, they'll strike soon," he said to himself. "and while they keep preparing to attack Trolberg, I'll keep preparing to stop them. I'll just have to minimalize the casualties until it comes."

* * *

"Harper, have the preparations been made?" the boss asked. Once again hiding her face from Harper's viewpoint. Harper simply smiled, indicating the answer to her question. "You have been a good child, Harper. While your mother may be disappointed in the path you've chosen, I will never be disappointed in you. You are my star, Harper."

"Thank you, boss," she bowed politely.

"Soon, you will control these young marra, just as I do. You and I will have the power to beat the people you despise so much. After we take control of this wretched city and the **beast** under it..." the boss spoke, standing up from her seat, facing Harper and grabbing her cheeks like a doting mother and her child. Her glowing green eyes became visible to her dark grey. "Call a meeting, and we will settle this once and for all then," she said, a sinister smile growing on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally hit that 10,000 words mark, it was an arduous few weeks writing this one. This one was quite difficult to write, the ideas were spiraling in my head and there were only a few things that I could fit in here.
> 
> I'd like to thank everybody for their kudos. It's very helpful to know that there are some people who are reading this and find it enjoyable. Thanks for reading!


	5. The Migration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashley reminisces about her friend, while Hilda and her friends plan on heading right to the marra.

**_After Johanna's nightmare_ **

_Everest opened his eyes, sweating, and breathing heavily after waking up from the woman's nightmare. It wasn't fully clear, but it appeared that the marra had been tormenting her with the image of a loved one. Instead of going for simple fears on little children, the marra grew to attack older people with their guilt, shame, and grief. He sighed to himself, wiping a hand across the sweat on his face, "Shit... they're getting worse..."_

_"I can't just let the marra keep hurting these people. I have to stop them..." he murmured. "But if I do... I could die in the process."_

_It was ironic how he came to Trolberg to work on himself and forget about work, but ended up back in what he was trying to escape. Of course, that didn't matter now... what mattered now was stopping the marra from taking this town._

* * *

A few more days had passed after Hilda and her friends had met the stubborn mage. They had decided against going back to him or the librarian since it was clear that they didn't want to get involved with the marra issue. Hilda had suggested that instead of asking for advice, they take matters into their own hands. They would storm the Huldrawood as soon as they all gathered. Frida said that it was a bad idea to rush into a known marra hideout without, firstly, some kind of plan, and secondly, an escape route. Hilda said that she could kill two birds with one stone.

"Y'know I take offense from that idiom."

The thunderbird landed on the edge of her window, entering and landing atop Hilda's bed. "Right, sorry," She walked up to him, leaning down and looking at him in the eyes. "I'm glad you made it. You're just in time."

Frida looked at the small raven, "Wait, who is this?"

"I'm the great thunderbird that flies over Trolberg every year. You call me 'The Great Raven' or something like that?"

"Oh, wow! It's nice to meet you then," she picked him up and hugged him tightly, shaking him around constantly. "You're so cute!"

As soon as he stopped, he smoothed his feathers and replied in a dazed deadpan tone, "It's flattering that you think I'm cute, but can you put me down?" she carefully put him down on the floor. "Ah, that's better... now what's the plan?"

"What's he going to do?"

"He's here if we need to get out. If you don't know..." Hilda began.

"I have an affinity for lightning and I can fly."

"...so, that makes him our best candidate for this," she explained. "He can help us escape, and help fight off the marra. If they come out and try to attack us, raven will grow into his big form and scare the socks off them!"

"He can grow big?"

"Hey, I'm not called the great raven for nothing," he replied, flexing his wings.

"David? Did you know about this?" Frida asked.

"Huh? Oh, uh..." He stumbled on his words. "Yes..?"

Frida sighed, during her time away from those two she had missed out on a lot.

Once they were all ready, they headed to the front door, but Hilda's mom stopped them by blocking the door with her arms crossed. "Hilda? Where are you going?"

As much as she didn't want to, Hilda lied. "We were going to go to the docks to see the boats."

"Yeah, that's why we have binoculars." David pointed out.

Johanna stared at the children suspiciously but then turned to Hilda. She pulled her aside for a moment, kneeling to her level and putting her hands on her shoulders. "You know that you can tell me anything, right?" she asked.

The question had thrown Hilda off. "Um..."

"Hilda... all I care about is your safety. That's all I care about. Just tell me if you're going on another one of your adventures. I want to make sure you don't get hurt."

"...I'll be fine," she said, staring back at her mother somberly. She walked back to her friends and motioned for them to leave. _And once I find that Marra, you will be too!_

* * *

A vast, empty void had replaced Ashley's stomach. Ashley had followed her friend Harper ever since the tragedy with her parents. Her mother had been killed by the mages, and her father had resigned her to live with her sisters in the marra realm, which was not only far from her home, but it was also very different from earth. It was almost like medieval England. Almost all the technology was primitive and instead of modern homes, they lived in stone or wooden houses. It was terrible.

However, she hadn't relied on anyone until Harper. She remembered her first conversation with her while they were on the outskirts of the village. It was the dawn of a typical spring day. The town was still asleep, and Ashley had decided to walk down the path toward the outskirts, which was often blocked by guards meant to keep the people in unless they were allowed to leave. But at this time, they always decided to take a long nap as no one was coming in at that time.

_"I've seen you around here before," Harper said, sitting on a branch atop a tree. She was a fair-skinned young woman, with brown hair and a scar on her right cheek._

_"You're..." Ashley uttered. She was an exile in the village she lived in. All the other villagers had cast her out for making too much trouble. At times, she felt the same as her, since she was ignored by most of the people for her human lineage._

_"Yeah, I'm sure you know who I am. You've lived in this village long enough to know why I live here," Harper said. "But I don't know why you come here. Especially when you know that I live here."_

_"What do you mean?" she asked._

_"Are you some kind of a weird fan of me or something?" Harper grinned. "You got a crush on me?"_

_Ashley's face turned red. "N-No, I don't!"_

_"Then, why are you here?"_

_Though she debated whether or not to tell her, Ashley felt a strange kinship with Harper. "Follow me and you'll see," Ashley began walking past her, past the trees, hills, and the ruined wooden houses. It was a short walk, but once she was beyond the forest that surrounded the small village, she saw green round masses, littered with grass, bushes, and beautiful flowers._

_Once Ashley reached the highest point of the hills, she glanced back to see Harper standing behind her with a wide-eyed, astounded appearance on her face. "Wh-why haven't I seen this?"_

_"Because you never looked," Ashley replied. "Come on, we can see it as the sun rises."_

_She was referring to the town she had called her home. They sat on the top of the hill and watched as the sun rose and showed its beautiful radiance upon the small village. They could see the people getting up from their homes, to go to work, or the nearby school, or to the fields to obtain food for the next few weeks._

_Though moving here was a terrible process for the young girl, there was still some beauty to be found here. When she faced Harper, she felt that she had begun to understand the attachment she had felt with her. The awe on her face was similar to her's when she first saw it. "So... you understand now?"_

_Harper glanced to Ashley with the same wonder still on her face, but she coughed and stood up from her spot, avoiding stepping on any of the nearby flowers. "Uh, alright, I guess that is a suitable reason to... ahem... come to the outskirts."_

_Ashley simply giggled at Harper's astonishment. "Alright, then."_

_Harper was quiet for a few moments, "Hey, you know... it gets a little quiet around here. You know since it's just me and those guards. And they never say anything but 'Don't go in there!' and 'Don't do that!'. Maybe I could use... a friend." she said, blushing slightly. "Like you?"_

That was the birth of their friendship. A friendship that lasted all of five years. It felt like Harper knew her more than she knew Harper, however. Everything she knew about her was from vague statements and her actions that seemed odd at the time.

_"You've been to earth, right?" Harper asked. They had been sitting on the hill as they always did at the end of the day. As the sun had been setting Harper broke the silence._

_"I was born there," Ashley replied honestly._

_"How was it there?"_

_Though she was reluctant for a moment, she turned her head west. Watching as the sun kissed the horizon. "Well, it was different than here, that's for sure. I lived in a big city, where no one bothered you and you didn't bother anyone. I had to live with my mom until I was six. It was this smaller area of the town, where the houses were more spread out. I lived there until... the mages came and killed my mom."_

_"I'm sorry about that."_

_"Don't be... It wasn't your fault," she said. "Besides, I'm sure you've been through worse."_

_"How do you know that?" Harper asked._

_"I can tell just by how you talk sometimes, almost like you're in a different place, you know?"_

_Harper frowned a little, crossing her arms._

_"Sorry, got a little carried away."_

_"No, it's just embarrassing that you noticed."_

_"Oh, don't be. I know that I can do the same thing at times," Ashley said with a smile. Silence ensued for the next few moments. Harper sighed and put her back against the tree, eating an apple from its branches._

_"I don't know how you can stay here," Harper said, leaning back on the tree. She stared at the half-eaten apple in her hand. Ashley gazed out at the sunset, she turned away from it and faced Harper. "It's boring as hell, and the world is so old-fashioned. There's no cars, no phones, no buildings. Just leaves and houses."_

_"I didn't like it as much either at first. But then I saw this view... and I thought..." she glanced at Harper and smiled. "...maybe this world isn't so bad. And then I met you, and I knew it for sure. Sure it may not be as advanced, but... there are just some things you can't find there."_

_Harper looked shocked for a second, before smiling softly looking down at her feet. "Well, when you smile like that..."_

Even though they were friends, she didn't truly know anything about her until the day came that Ashley had to leave the marra realm. If coming to the marra realm was hard, then coming back to earth with Harper was even more difficult.

_"Harper, are you sure about this?"_

_"Do you want to keep living in this dump forever?" Harper asked, grabbing Ashley by the arm toward the end of the road where a large amount of marra were gathered. "C'mon!"_

_"Wait!"_

_Harper rushed to the scene with Ashley in tow. They were in a large crowd, all of them cheering for the few in the middle of the circle. A man, fervently preaching to the other marra. "Please come with us to meet the savior! Come! Come!"_

_Ashley didn't know much about the world she lived in. She only knew about the town and a few things about the culture that she needed to know to not stand out. She didn't know who this savior was, but clearly, she meant something to Harper and she conceded to follow her wherever she went._

_In this case, it was back to earth, to find the "savior"._

_They were told that the only way that a marra can move between the earth and the marra realm freely, is if they are old enough to learn how to fly and feed. And the only way they could learn was through training. Through this, Harper and Ashley began learning how to use their latent marra abilities. Ashley looked to be the typical marra, though she was half-human. She didn't have any special abilities. Harper, on the other hand... left black ash in her wake instead of the typical green contrails._

_It was clear that she was unique._

_They both learned how to fly and soon they learned how to feed on dreams and therefore, nightmares as well. When they fed on nightmares, Ashley felt a large pit in her stomach. An annoying feeling that wouldn't go away no matter how much she tried. She ignored it, but it bothered her to no end._

_Throughout the time they had been training, her living in the small town felt worse and worse. The other marra knowing she was hanging out with an outcast and that she was half-human, the things that they did went from subtle to bold. Her sisters, the ones who had taken her in, had been ostracized as well. Though they said that it was fine, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in forcing them through these things. The longer she stayed there, the more she felt like a burden to them._

_Once they had what they needed, they followed the many marra to earth to find this savior. Ashley, however, left simply to allow her sisters to live in peace._

After they came to earth they met the boss. She was a charismatic figure for all of them, however, Ashley did not understand a single thing about the marra realm. So, she simply followed Harper and her blindly. However, she didn't know just how much she had lost in joining the Huld. She had shelter, but she had no home. She had people around her, but she had no friends. Worst of all, she was beginning to realize how disillusioned her friend was now that she understood everything. She confronted Harper on this earlier that day. Everyone was told what their part would be and what their objective was.

_"I'm sure that by now, you know what the mages did to us. They are all vile and terrible," she explained. "Well, we are going to pay them back for that and then some. There's something powerful in this town. It's strong enough for us to storm their castle and destroy them in one fell swoop. Heh, and they have no clue what we're planning."_

_"I don't understand any of this!" Ashley shouted. "So many people would die if you started a war with them!"_

_"Yeah, of course, but it's for a good cause. All of us have a reason to hate them. Maybe you most of all, after what they did to your mother."_

_Ashley frowned further, her confusion turning to anger. "My mother..." her open palm clenched into a fist. "But if we do the same thing to them, we'd be no better than them. No, in fact... if we continue with what the boss wants to do, we'd be a whole lot worse._

_"They killed her and forced your dad to send you to live with your sisters, where you were rejected. They did that, and you still sympathize with them?"_

_Ashley stayed silent. She frowned as she stomped away in frustration._

_"Face the facts, Ashley. You're apart of this too, now. And whether you like it or not, you're one of the Huld marra. And the boss will find you if you betray us." she said, with a big smirk on her face._

**_"Don't do anything rash now."_ **

Ashley was at a crossroads, now. She didn't want anything that could affect her stay here, since there was nowhere else to go if she messed up here. But even then, if she didn't do something this could very well be a battlefield. But was it justified? If it was, should she even let them do something like that?

She didn't know, all she knew was that things had gotten bigger than she thought and she was the only one who could stop them from hurting these humans. Or at least, one of the people.

That night after work, when Johanna, Everest, and Ashley got off work, she walked up to Johanna as Everest was finishing up things in the back room. She made sure he wasn't watching and approached her. She realized at that moment just how much she admired her. She was like a role model to her in the fact that she was a hard-working single mother who was simultaneously chasing her dream and working a nine-to-five job. She had decided that if there was anyone to ask for advice, it was her.

"Was there something you needed, Ashley?" Johanna asked, tilting her head.

"Um..." of course, her nerves got the better of her. She looked down at her toes for a moment, before she shook her head, allowing the thoughts to pass. "No...! I need to ask you something!" she didn't shout, but her tone was elevated. Johanna was seeing something different, now.

She replied by smiling. "What is it?"

"If you were in a tough situation, where your only choice was to give up on your only friend or saving others..."

Johanna's eyes widened slightly.

"What would you do?"

Johanna was quiet for a few moments.

"My friend, Harper. She's going to do something bad. Very bad. I want to help her, but she's too far gone now. And I don't want to hurt her, but... if I don't she'll-"

"This isn't the first time I've seen something like this happen. Having to choose between two things that are important to you. Even though I want to say that you should save as many people as possible, that would be wrong of me to tell you to give up your friend."

Ashley said nothing, as tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.

Johanna sighed, "I had to make a similar choice once when I was young and just had Hilda. I had the choice of saving someone I loved or having the town I grew up in put into grave danger. I made the decision of letting him go because it was his wish. I don't regret that decision."

"D-Didn't you want to save him?"

"He didn't need saving," she replied with a sad smile. "An important thing to know, when you grow up is if you're trying to help someone, or just being selfish by stopping them."

As she spoke, she was speaking to Ashley, and partly to herself. She was speaking the very words that she needed to hear. Ashley looked up at Johanna, hugging her tightly.

"Hey, now. We still have to be professional." Johanna said, somewhat wryly. Despite what she said, she hugged her back. "Alright, alright."

"I'm sorry, for putting you in that situation," she uttered after a moment of silence between them. "I was just... a lot was weighing on my mind today..."

"It's alright. I meant it when I said that you can talk to me about anything. If something like this happens again, just talk to me." she replied. "Even if it hurts, there are things we just have to do. Hopefully, if something bad happens, you'll tell someone."

Ashley looked at Johanna for a moment, staring at her right in her dark brown eyes. Johanna did the same, staring at her before leaving the store and closing the door behind her. Ashley was at a crossroads before, but now? She knew what she had to do. She wouldn't let anyone do the same thing that happened to her and her parents to anyone else. She would have to stop them herself.

* * *

"So... what do we do now?" Frida asked the two of them. As they continued to watch the marra begin to gather, Frida's question remained unanswered. The other marra spoke amongst themselves for a few moments before what appeared to be the leader began to speak. She had long blonde hair, faded green eyes, and appeared to be older than the other marra.

"I'm sure you already know what is happening currently in our small town. But for those of you who haven't kept up with regular meetings, I'll explain. After all of you appointed me as the leader earlier this year after the previous leader was killed. I've been working hard for the lot of you, so we can take what's ours. You've been waiting for a time when we can take this town. And that time... has come tonight. It's time we expand past these drab, grey walls of Trolberg and push the reaches of this earth! We'll destroy those stupid mages in one fell swoop, leaving only our power left. Those of you who disagree can leave now... and face my wrath." No one said a thing and no one dared moved from their spot. "Good. Tonight, we're all going to get some vengeance on those mage bastards. We're gonna get them so good, they'll be pissing their pants every time we pass by! And with the immunity to those restrictions that I've bestowed to you, you'll be able to do it with practically no resistance."

Frida watched in horrific awe as the marra roared in unison. She looked at the other two and whispered. "What are we going to do now?"

"I'm still going out there," Hilda muttered shakily.

"Hilda, I don't think I can back you up on this one," Raven murmured, "These aren't any ordinary Marra... she was part of the Völsung clan of marra. They're one of the strongest clans in Marra history. If we go out there she'll kill us."

"How do you know that?" David inquired.

"Being around as long as I have gives me a few perks in the knowledge department," Raven said proudly. "Now let's skedaddle before we end up-"

"You four in the bushes... come out right now." The sound of the leader's voice shocked all of them. "Come out now, or I'll put you in a neverending nightmare."

"How'd she see us?" Frida asked, hoping Raven would answer.

" **I see everything.** " She uttered her voice behind them this time. They all turned to her with wide eyes and she smirked and showed her grey teeth. "What the hell are you doing at my meeting?"

"I want to know what you're doing to my mum," Hilda growled.

"Your 'mum'?" She replied, imitating her accent. The leader thought for a moment putting a hand to her chin. "I've never heard of her or you. Whatever problem you have, it ain't with me nor these other marra."

"You're lying! Whatever you're doing to her..."

She scoffed. "I wouldn't do anything to your mother..." she replied sarcastically. "...at least, _I_ wouldn't."

Hilda growled. "This isn't a game!" She shouted with tears in her eyes. "You've hurt my mother so bad she hardly looks me in the eye. Tell me the truth!"

"Truth? If you want the truth out of me, you're going to have to do better than that." She leaned down ruffling Hilda's hair only angering her further. Hilda reached up and grabbed her wrist in a vice grip. "Oooh, a feisty one here! Angry, are you? I'm the one who should be angry here. You interrupted my meeting. You're the one who keeps insisting that I did something when it was most likely one of the other ones over there. You're the one who keeps these marra from enjoying their nights. You're the one who thinks that you can disrespect me on my turf." Hilda found herself lifted in the air by her wrist. "You know what we do to intruders around here? We make examples of them."

"No... you can't... I'm..." It was almost as if this woman was sucking the life out of her. "I'm not asleep, so you can't give me nightmares."

"It doesn't take sleep to rouse nightmares. And besides, I'm not like those other weakling marra. I can control all five of your senses even while you're awake or wearing leather! I'm so strong I could put you in hell right now!" The world suddenly became obscured and the trees became pits of fire, the ground became molten lava, and the sky reeked with smoke from burning souls. Hilda fell onto her back in sudden fright but felt that the ground burned her intensely and tried to suck her in. She choked as the magma reached her head, and the burning caught in her throat. The marra cackled at her pain, "I control you, so even if you were to try and stop me, I'd simply kill you."

The world returned to its normal appearance, and Hilda could breathe again. "Face it, kid. You're outta your depth. If you don't wanna die, it'd be best if you get the hell out of dodge. This is the last chance I'll show you mercy."

"Get out of here, you three. I'll deal with this alone." David and Raven immediately left as she said. Frida watched her friend as the marra tossed her to the ground. "I'm not... going anywhere."

"I was going to take pity on you, but now... I'll send you into an eternal nightmare." The marra grabbed her by the head, her hand turning green and Hilda was immediately put to sleep. She smirked and turned back to the other marra who only watched her work in awe. "That takes care of that. Let this human be the example of what happens to all who oppose us."

_"Now, my new clan... get ready, cause in an hour you're in for a night that'll top even your best nights!"_

* * *

"So, it's come to this, huh?"

Ashley stood across from Harper, who stared at her with her vicious burning green eyes. She simply nodded, before allowing a green aura to envelop her body. She began to levitate off the ground. "You know what you're doing is going to hurt so many innocent marra and humans. It's insane to think that something like that will work."

"Then what's your solution then? If you're so adamant about keeping us from doing this, then you must have a solution yourself." Harper challenged.

"No, I don't. But, I know that this is not a solution that will work. I know that this will only make the strained relationships between mages and marra even worse. And getting the humans involved will make it impossible to fix." Ashley explained.

"Ha! You're an idiot... if you think doing nothing will solve this, then you're sorely mistaken." Harper's green aura grew into a large flame. "And if you think you can beat me, then you're even more insane than you think us to be!" She shot forward, charging for Ashley.

Ashley watched Harper rush toward her as if she were in slow motion. Even though she had been here for a short time, she felt that this was her home. And she had to protect it, whatever the cost. She had never fought another being before, but she knew that she had to capacity to. Ashley would win.

"Come on, traitor! Show me what you've got!"

_Because there was no other option._


	6. The City-Wide Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Huldrawood marra finally attack Trolberg!

They rained down from the clouded sky like angels of death. Hundreds of green ghosts came down from the skies upon the people of Trolberg. They flew into the homes of the sleeping citizens and entered their minds. And at the center of it all was the boss, the Völsung Clan's former heir, the new leader of the Huld. "This town will be ours for the taking! All you humans are in for an early Halloween!"

Just as the marra had begun their nightly assault, Everest was at home meditating. Hearing the commotion outside, Everest rushed to his window, looking for the source and seeing them fly through the streets in massive amounts. He cursed under his breath and began to open the window to jump out until he thought about the other tenants of the house. He sped out of his room, knocking over books and journals in the process. He leaped down the stairs stopping when he reached the dining room. He looked to the doors across the kitchen and saw they were glowing green.

He thrust his hands out, a gust of wind burst forth from them, opening the doors and revealing his neighbor with a young marra on her chest and a few others surrounding her. 

"Wha--" the other marra didn't have the chance to speak before Everest was close enough to knock them out in one strike. His palm shot out, hitting the marra and knocking her out. He formed a few hand signs before shooting off a sleep spell quickly to knock out the others. 

He breathed shakily, grabbing her head, feeling her heated and sweating head. She groaned and moaned in pain, as she continued to convulse. He focused his energy on using his magic to enter her mind.

He was suddenly thrust into a world of incoherence and nonsense, the stream of consciousness. He stood still being careful to avoid anything that could harm him. He continued concentrating and he reached a world of nothingness... the consciousness. He pushed further until he reached the subconscious, where the dreamscape was... and where he would find the marra.

"Hey, did you two want to join in on the fun--? Ah shit." the marra muttered and frowned, "Lemme guess, cavalry's here?"

He grabbed her, only for her to disappear in his hands. He turned around seeing her standing behind him with a grin on her face. "Where is Ambrosia?!"

"Ah, ah, ah, that's not how it works around here. See, you're apart of my dream now. So I control everything around here, including your friend here, so I wouldn't recommend trying something like that again."

He frowned further, glancing around at all the grinning marra around him. "What is your name?"

"Normally, I wouldn't bat an eye at this tradition, though, given you are going to die here, I suppose I will give it this one time." she leaned forward, holding her hand to her chest. "My name is Storm, and this is where you die."

* * *

"What's wrong? You can't keep up?" Harper sped past her and into the forest, cackling all the way through. She shot around a tree and slammed her fist into Ashley's face. She continued her assault, by grabbing her by the neck and launching into the sky then dropping fast enough to pick up an immense amount of speed and hurling her into multiple trees, they split in half as she cut into them. Ashley managed to stop herself at the third destroyed tree. "Keh heh heh, I knew you were a weakling, but this is just pathetic!"

Ashley growled, rushing forward at the older marra hoping to get a hit on her. She dodged each of her advances, and at the last one flew behind her and grabbed her right arm. She twisted it behind her back and spinning her off the ground and slamming her face into the dirt. Harper pushed her knee into her left leg and her arm into her back. "Face it," she growled, "you don't have the guts to hurt me!" 

Ashley could do nothing but feel the pain as Harper inflicted it, pulling her arm further and further past the point that it could safely be turned. She felt the joint begin to fall out of place and her muscle tendons begin to pull and extend. She let out a muffled cry as her arm was continually displaced. She pushed off the ground with her left arm and wrested her body from the pin. As Harper was recovering from her burst of strength, Ashley crashed into her at high speed, pushing her into a nearby tree, holding her by the neck with her forearm. "What were you saying about me not having guts?" she struck her across the face with a heavy punch. Blood spilled down her nose as she did.

Harper did nothing, instead, she simply smiled. "You got another one of those hits in ya?" Ashley stared mindlessly, rearing her hand back, but not following through. She pushed Ashley off and kicked her in the stomach, launching her back slightly. Ashley clutched her stomach in pain. Harper stood over her, grinning the same grin that she always did whenever things went her way.

 _Why can't I fight her?_ she asked herself. She looked her in the eye and was reminded of her first day in Trolberg. Where Harper was the only one she knew and could trust. _Because she was my friend._ Over time, they had grown apart, but never enough for Harper to hurt her like this. She let tears fall out from the corners of her eyes. 

_"I don't know how you can stay here," Harper said, leaning back on the tree. She stared at the half-eaten apple in her hand. Ashley gazed out at the sunset, she turned away from it and faced Harper. "It's boring as hell, and the world is so old-fashioned. There's no cars, phones, buildings. Just leaves and houses."_

_"I-I didn't like it as much either at first. But then I saw this view... and I couldn't help but think..." she glanced at Harper and smiled. "...maybe this world isn't bad."_

_Harper looked shocked for a second, before smiling softly looking down at her feet. "Well, when you smile like that..."_

"Why did we stop being friends?" Ashley called out to the marra. "Why did you have to change?"

Harper frowned, stopping in her tracks to stare at Ashley with a gaze that could burn holes in someone's head. She leaned down and looked at her in the eyes. "You never knew much about me in the first place. If you can't understand why I want to change this world, then you'll have to get out my way!" 

"I can't! I'm not giving up on this town or my friends!" she shot back, lifting trying to stand, but failing. "I... I..."

"Don't say anything more to me. You've said all you needed to. If you want to betray your kind, if you want to betray me, so be it!" She snapped, getting ready to dole out the killing blow. "Time for you to die, Ashley."

* * *

Johanna had begun to drive home as normal, she was headed home since she knew that Hilda had gone and done one of her adventurer things and headed to the 'docks'. She knew that was a lie, however, she trusted that Hilda would be back by sunset. Johanna knew she would be home by twilight and hopefully, Hilda would be there.

As soon as she realized that she wasn't at home, or any of her friends' houses, she started to panic and decided to head to the police station for help. The moon began to rise at this time, and Johanna realized that it was about nine o'clock at night. As she reached the station and she saw that it was empty. No one was there.

"Where did everybody go?!" she asked herself. She looked around, as a matter of fact, she hadn't seen anyone for miles and the houses were being lit oddly. Green lights.

She was reminded of the green light of Hilda as the marra had taken over her slumber. And of that night...

No...

No.

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! She wouldn't have...!_

"...I'll be fine," she said, staring back at her mother somberly. She walked back to her friends and motioned for them to leave.

_Hilda must've gone chasing for my marra!_

Johanna leaped into her car and began driving up to the Huldrawood. If she remembered correctly, that was where the marra resided. There were a few cabins there reserved for the Sparrow Scouts, but at this time they were empty for any other intents and purposes. They could very well have been hidden there. And she knew just how dangerous these marra could be, just based on how they attacked David and Hilda in their sleep, she had no idea of their capabilities.

She closed the car door and began her trek to the main areas until she found something she wasn't expecting.

* * *

"Ack!"

Harper fell flat on her face, leaving Johanna standing over her unconscious body with a large branch in hand. "Ashley! What are you doing here?!"

"I live here. What are you doing here? Why are you in the Huld?" Ashley asked as Johanna lifted her. She winced as she stood up straight, a shot of pain ran through her left calf. She was probably running on adrenaline throughout that entire fight and ignored what could have been a dangerous injury.

"My daughter went missing a few hours ago. I think that she went here looking for... a marra." It sounded odd when she said it out loud, but she proceeded anyway. "Have you seen any marra around here?"

"Um, actually... I have." she began to float, taking the pressure off her left leg. She let out a sigh of relief, both from telling the truth and from the alleviation of pain. "I'm half-marra."

Johanna stood there slack-jawed as she began to float with green energy rolling off her shoulders. She was about to say something until Ashley cut her off.

"Please understand, my boss told me to hide my true powers from Everest and you and everyone at the store, but after our last talk, I decided that I don't want to associate with the marra of the Huldrawood anymore. So, I left," she explained. "I don't know where your daughter is, but I have an idea where she could be."

"I..." she didn't know what to think, but as she looked at her in her eyes, she decided to trust her. She was going to trust Ashley for the time being, especially since she was the only lead that she had. "Alright,"

Ashley took note of her change in demeanor as her daughter was found to be involved. "I understand, don't worry. Let's go find her, hurry!"

* * *

"I can't believe we just left her like that..." David muttered under his breath. Tears were flowing from his wide eyes. He had just watched his friend charge into the belly of the beast and they had left her to fulfill some ridiculous vengeance wish. As quickly as he had decided to help her, he had quit on her just as fast. 

"Calm down, Hilda didn't want us to get hurt. That's why she did that. We didn't leave her, she wanted us to be safe. And though it may feel otherwise, this is what she wanted." Frida said.

"I don't know what I was thinking, going to do something like this. We should have stayed home!" David stammered, putting his head in his hands. "What are we going to tell her mum...?"

"We need to calm down right now, we aren't out of this situation yet. There are still a few of them lurking around here. And going based on the flashing lights and flying young girls I saw in the sky a few moments ago, I'm assuming they're looking for us. So for now, we have to keep quiet until we get out of here," she glanced at David. "Listen, I know you're feeling scared for her right now, but if we want to rescue her we have to stay alive."

"Right," Raven replied. 

David did the same, "O-okay,"

"Okay then," Frida said, looking around carefully. "There's a cabin over there, let's head there."

* * *

Ashley rushed out to the boss' cabin, leaving a green marra trail behind her. Johanna followed carefully behind her, "Where are we going?" she uttered, as they opened the door to the oddly colored cabin. Ashley walked into the cabin to see the same furniture, however, everything else was missing from the room. The paintings had disappeared, the colors changed to a simple light brown, and there was only one room, just across from the entrance.

"What in the..." she muttered, her eyes had gone wide. "What happened here?" she trembled slightly.

"What's wrong?" Johanna asked.

"It's gone! The entire room changed from how I last saw it!" she shouted.

"What do you mean?" Johanna inquired.

"I-" she stopped herself, looking around a second time. "Never mind, it's probably just me, let's keep going."

"Alright then," Johanna said, determined to find Hilda. Ashley walked to the office, only to see it was empty. 

"What in the hell is going on with this cabin...?" Ashley muttered. She opened the door behind her only for it to hold nothing but a black abyss. "Oh no..."

"What is it?!"

"She's pulled us into the dreamscape!" Ashley exclaimed.

"Who? Dreamscape? What are you talking about, Ashley?!" Johanna fumed, finally reaching the end of her rope. She grabbed her by the shoulders. "Where are we?!"

**"Hell."**

* * *

Everest held the marra by her throat, she was bruised and bleeding from various cuts across her body. He held a blade shrouded in purple and black shadows. He tossed her to the ground, "I didn't want to get violent, but this is all of Trolberg that's at stake here. Let her go, _now_."

"Heh, that's smart wasting your time on this girl when you could be dealing with the rest of Trolberg." she choked out. "I won't let her go until this night has ended. That's what I was ordered to do. You'll have to kill me to do that..."

"What is your boss doing? Why is she trapping all the people of Trolberg in a nightmare?!" he demanded.

"You of all people should know, mage. You know what kind of power this town holds. Not just physical power, but the sheer amount of people under our spell could overpower any army your people could throw at us." she laughed. "The mages have no chance against us!"

"You want to do _that_ spell don't you?" he muttered, shocked.

"What other spell _would_ I be talking about?" she said, smiling.

* * *

"Maybe I was being a little overdramatic," the boss said, her ear-to-ear grin showing through the darkness. "You aren't in Kansas anymore, that is to say... you aren't in the living realm anymore. No... you and the rest of Trolberg in a deep slumber. One that gives us an immense amount of power. You see, we marra draw power from the nightmares of humans. Typically, the marra only enter the nightmares of young kids and teenagers and share the energy created from the dreamscape to survive. But, I am different. I draw energy from the dreamscape itself. And the more nightmares there are, the more power I have."

"Why are you doing this?" Johanna asked.

"I'll keep my reasons to myself, right now, I think you should be worrying about your daughter." She snapped her fingers, showing her a small window. Hilda was being held on her back, bound by her wrists and legs in a cage. It was slowly being lowered into a river of magma. The lava seeped into the floors and she felt her arms and feet being burned by the liquid fire. She screamed in pain.

" _Hilda!_ " Johanna screeched. She reached for the boss' neck, but the marra only stepped back deftly. " _You let her go now you_ -!"

"Oh! We have a live one here!" the boss cackled. "I'll let that one go, but try that again, and you'll see why I'm the most powerful marra in Trolberg!"

Johanna growled viciously, going for another attack, but Ashley stopped her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Johanna didn't back down, still staring at her with a fuming rage. This made the boss grimly frivolous. "Since you've done me well these past few days, Ashley. Keeping that mage under a watchful eye, I'll let you and your friend go. But a fair warning, if you try to interfere with my plans you'll die. You can try to wake up her kid, but unless you give her a powerful mental shock, she won't wake up. Consider this my repayment for your service with the Völsung marra. She won't be spared from the oncoming battle though, no matter what... she's apart of this war now."

The world slowly began to return to its normal shape, the cabin with the drab colors and the odd furniture. "What was that last thing she said? What did that mean?"

Johanna looked at the ground with wide eyes, shaken to her very core. She quickly turned her head back to Ashley, "I-I don't k-know..." she fell backward, hitting her spine against the hardwood. "She... has my daughter."

"We'll find her, don't worry. She'll turn up, we just have to look harder and..."

SLAM!

"Hilda, are you in here?!"

"Hildaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Hilda!"

Johanna opened the door to the main area, seeing the two children and the thunderbird that flies over the city. She rushed over to them, "Frida! David!" and embraced them.

"Aren't you Hilda's mum?" David asked carefully. "Do you know where she is? Is she here?" he asked with teary eyes.

"N-no, I take it none of you do either, then?" she mumbled. They all shook their heads. "Great, well if anything... we have more people to cover more ground."

"Yeah, and we can get a birds-eye view," Raven said.

"Oh! You must be the Trolberg thunderbird!" Ashley responded.

"Yup, that's me! Your friendly neighborhood Thunderbird, at your service. And who might you be?" 

"I'm Ashley. I'm half-human, half-marra." she pointed to herself.

"What? Half n' half? I didn't even know that was possible!" Raven commented bluntly, she glared at him wryly. "My bad,"

"Hey, can you fly fast?"

He looked at her as if she was asking the obvious. "Of course I can!"

"Good, then we can get to finding that Hilda girl. The sooner we find her, the sooner we can get to dealing with this mess." Ashley explained. "Right now, the Raven and I are going to go find someone important. You two have to find Hilda so she can wake up from that dream."

"Wait, why am I going with you?" he asked.

"Because if he refuses, then we are doomed," she explained. "If you're the thunderbird you say you are, then you can control lightning can't you?"

"Yeah, just not as well as I used to... I'm a little rusty."

"Good... Johanna, are you well enough to keep looking for her?" Ashley asked, turning her head to face the distressed mother. She still looked crestfallen. Ashley grasped her small hands in her own looking at her directly in the eye, "We'll find her... I promise."

Johanna looked up for a moment, letting a small smile show. "Thank you."

"Does everyone understand the plan? Right now, you three have to find Hilda, avoid the marra in the Huldrawood, and search all the cabins. I will find someone to break the spell." Ashley explained. "He will save all of Trolberg,"

"Okay," "Alright!" "I'm ready!" David, Frida, and Johanna all spoke at the same time.

"Good," she uttered. "Let's go, bird!"

"Right!" they both ran outside and Raven turned into his thunderbird form. He launched in the sky and Ashley followed. She looked down on the city, with careful eyes. "Now, Everest... where are you?"


End file.
